Fotopoulos Shrugs Off Sentence

Judge Orders Killer To Electric Chair

November 2, 1990|By Shirish Date Of The Sentinel Staff

DAYTONA BEACH — Konstantinos Fotopoulos told Circuit Judge James Foxman on Thursday he wouldn't ask for mercy, and the judge showed him none, sentencing the murderer to death in Florida's electric chair.

Fotopoulos, 31, just shrugged, taking his death sentence with the same indifference he showed during his monthlong trial. Defense lawyer Carmen Corrente said Fotopoulos knew Foxman almost certainly would follow the trial jury's recommendation of death.

In fact, Fotopoulos preferred a death sentence to two consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years each, Corrente said. ''He wasn't looking forward to spending 50 years in jail,'' he said.

Fotopoulos' mother stormed from the courtroom, lashing out at spectators and reporters in broken English.

''My son is innocent,'' shouted Despina Fotopoulos as her husband and Corrente tried to quiet her and move her away from the crowd. ''My son loves this country . . . I'm sorry for this country.''

Fotopoulos came to the United States from Greece at age 17 to learn his father's craft, aviation engineering. While getting his master's degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, he married Lisa Paspalakis, the heir of a boardwalk businessman's small fortune.

Four years later, Fotopoulos decided to have his wife murdered for her life insurance and their common property after she discovered his affair with former arcade employee Deidre Hunt.

Prosecutors argued that the two murders Fotopoulos was charged with were part of his plot to kill his wife. Kevin Ramsey, 19, was tied to a tree and shot four times by Hunt as Fotopoulos videotaped the killing. Bryan Chase, 18, was gunned down by Fotopoulos moments after Chase shot Lisa Fotopoulos in the head. The shooting by Chase was the sixth attempt on her life in five days.

Lisa Fotopoulos, 30, who still carries a bullet in her head and is divorcing her husband, declined to discuss the death sentences.

Before being sentenced, Fotopoulos was ready to deliver a one-page statement about the trial.

''I'm not going to stand here and plead for mercy. I'm not going to stand here and say I'm a good person,'' Fotopoulos said, adding that he still doesn't accept last week's guilty verdicts from a Putnam County jury.

Foxman cut him off, telling him he wouldn't allow him to use the hearing as a forum for his grievances.

State Attorney John Tanner, who had told Foxman that Fotopoulos deserved death for what he did, said afterward he was pleased.

''The sentence is just. . . . Justice has been done,'' he said.

Two other co-defendants are scheduled for their sentencings, which were postponed until after Fotopoulos' trial so Foxman could consider their testimony.

Teja James, who twice tried to kill Lisa Fotopoulos before Fotopoulos recruited Bryan Chase, will be sentenced Monday. Lori Henderson, who knew about the plot but did nothing to stop it, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6. Both pleaded guilty last spring to conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.

Deidre Hunt, 21, already has been sentenced to death for her role in the case. She gave crucial testimony against Fotopoulos in the hope that her cooperation would sway the state clemency board to commute her sentences and spare her life.

Tanner said he would readily tell any court or agency that Hunt had testified for the prosecution, but he won't go any further. ''We don't intend to help Deidre Hunt,'' he said.

He also hopes to recoup some of the $101,241 prosecutors and police spent investigating and trying Fotopoulos. When arrested, Fotopoulos had $10,000 in cash and about $5,000 in jewelry, and that may be all that's available, Tanner said. ''But that's a lot better than nothing,'' he said.